Local residents say it jumps from house to house, is dressed in black and has red eyes. After hundreds of complaints, police is looking for it. Listen to the Sheriff's story on Radio 10.

Santa Fe is jumping. Residents of the southern area are frightened by the appearance of a strange entity they've dubbed "the rooftop madman" and who -- according to their accounts -- leaps from roof to roof engaging in acrobatics.

Witness claim it stands two meters tall, is entirely clad in black and wears a balaclava; it sports a cape and its eyes shine red according to the information received by researchers. This character is able to cross the streets by leaping from one rooftop to the next, taking acrobatic leaps that can be of up to five meters high and ten meters long.

"He looks like the cat man," say some locals. "His outline is barely visible, his figure. He never showed his face, but they say they've seen his eyes and that they have a reddish cast."

In an interview with Radio 10, Sheriff Gabriel Legstra acknowledged that "there is a widespread psychosis. In recent days we have received hundred of reports at our radio command center."

"On Tuesday I dispatched 18 units to assuage people's fears. But ultimately there is no other crime than tresspassing here. The character goes from one roof to the next, appears inside a house, has pressed his face against a window but hasn't attacked anyone."

The psychosis is growing among residents of southern Santa Fe in spite of having never been attacked. Police confirm that in recent days calls have multiplied, reporting a man leaping from one rooftop to the next "like a madman".

According to Diario La Capital, he first appeared in Barrio Centenario, only meters from the Colon Stadium, but they say he was seen closer to town, such as in El Arenal, San Lorenzo, Chalet and Santa Rosa de Lima. This is the area most affected by the 2003 floods.

In any event, despite the intense combing of the area by dozens of officers, police were unable to find the character, but advised the public to remain calm, since there are reports within the force that some local residents directly tried to shoot the entity to death.

Mystery grew when several witnesses said that "bullets won't do anything to it. Its eyes gleam red when it it mocks those who try to hunt it."

A resident of El Arenal claimed having fired 17 times against it without bullets having the least effect, while the ghost did nothing but provoke it, howl like a beast or cry like a child, making dance steps on the rooftops over which it treads like a cat.

"People are afraid of being attacked, beaten and robbed by this man. They fear he will break into their property and are defending themselves," say those in Regional Unit 1 who in turn describe the locals as "expectant and armed with knives and sticks."

Most locals describe a being that appears to have sprung froma comic book: large in stature, who not only wanders the rooftops but also crosses the streets in a single bound and can climb smooth walls up to six meters high. "It's the Devil," say the bolder or more imaginative ones.

Sheriff Legstra said that a woman told him that "the entity pointed at her with its finger and left her paralyzed."

Another local woman said that last Monday, during an intense rain, the phantom managed to jam the car doors of a vehicle with 7 passengers aboard, who were armed and ready to hunt it down in spite of police warnings.

Others decided to stand guard 24 hours by the doors to their homes, armed and vigilant. But it has not been possible to capture it up to now.

Residents of the southern section interrutped traffic, claiming greater lighting for the area, since may are afraid to leave their homes alone.

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